Explosion at Florida Jail Kills 2 Inmates

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Rescue workers prepared to enter a jail in Pensacola, Fla., on Thursday after a blast that killed two inmates and injured over 150. Unharmed inmates were taken to nearby detention facilities.CreditMichael Spooneybarger/Reuters

PENSACOLA, Fla., — One day after nearly two feet of rain swamped Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle, causing severe flooding, a gas explosion ripped through a local jail late Wednesday night, killing two inmates and injuring about 150 inmates and corrections officers.

The explosion took place in the central booking part of the county intake jail, where 600 inmates were housed. Injured inmates and correctional officers were taken to local hospitals, many of them for minor injuries.

Inmates who were not harmed were taken by bus to nearby detention facilities. “We believe we have almost all our inmates accounted for,” a spokeswoman for Escambia County, Kathleen Dough-Castro, said.

The whereabouts of three inmates was uncertain, but Ms. Dough-Castro said county officials believed they were in the hospital, perhaps being switched from floor to floor for medical procedures.

Ms. Dough-Castro said the jail had been flooded by rainwater over the past two days, and fire marshals, who were at the site, were investigating whether the downpours led to the gas leak. A jail wall and part of the roof collapsed in the blast.

“The building was flooded through severe rains last night,” Ms. Dough-Castro said. Four hundred of the inmates were men, and 200 women.

Pensacola had its rainiest day ever on Tuesday, when 15 inches fell on parts of the city, which is near the Alabama border. Rain continued to fall on Wednesday.

Some family members of inmates waited nearby for word about their relatives. Clarrissa Prim of Pensacola stood for three hours outside the jail for information about her brother but had heard nothing.

“It’s frustrating when you wake up to people on the street telling you that the jail just exploded,” Ms. Prim said. “We tried to go to the hospital, but it’s on lock. Where is the information? Just let me know my people are O.K.”

Kevin Watts, who lives a block away from the jail, said his daughter startled him Wednesday after she heard a booming sound.

“I was sound asleep until my daughter busted into my room and said: ‘Dad! Dad! Something just fell through the roof of our house,’ ” Mr. Watts said. “I thought it was just thunder until I got text messages from friends on the other side of town about the explosion.”

Mr. Watts walked over to the jail to try to help, he said.

“I stayed until about 3:30 this morning, until all the inmates were removed,” he said. “The walls were caving in and people were trapped.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: Florida: Explosion at Jail Kills 2 and Leaves Scores Wounded. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe